Wanda and Cecilia

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

Cecilia decides to check in on the latest MedLab patient and finds Wanda awake. Wanda is incredibly grateful at the offer of water and they wind up chatting.



As nice as the breather at Harry's had been, Cecilia was, at heart, a workaholic. Once she and Madelyn had gotten home, she managed to beat her roomie back down to medlab by a large enough margin that it was her hand lightly rapping against the door to the currently occupied inpatient room, rather than the doctor's. "Miss Maximoff?" Cecilia asked, her voice loud enough to be heard inside, but quiet enough not to wake her if she were asleep.

Wanda's eyes flicked open. While she hadn't been sleeping, she had been attempting to find solace in meditation. It had not worked and she was curious as to who was at the door. "Yes?" Stress had deepened her accent a few degrees and she cleared her throat. "I am awake...and decent if that is what you are waiting for."

The door opened and Cecilia poked her head inside, offering a warm grin towards the woman in the bed. "Permission to come in and see how you're doing, if that falls under the same category," she nodded. "Can I get you a drink or anything?"

"I do not even know you and I would love you forever," came the reply, slightly horse. "This thirst just will not go away."

"Undying love won't be necessary," Cecilia chuckled, holding up one finger and ducking back out of view. She wasn't gone long, and soon slipped into the room with a full pitcher of water and an empty glass. "This should help with that.. I'm Cecilia, by the by. Apart from thirsty, how are you feeling?"

"I have not ached this much since a tree fell on me in Prague," Wanda admitted, scooting up slightly so she could drink the water without choking to death. "Mostly, I think, from being wrestled to the ground and then tied to a chair."

"Ouch. You've certainly lead a more adventurous life than I have, from the sounds of it," Cecilia said wryly, pouring the glass of water and waiting for Wanda to get herself settled before she offered it.

The glass felt cool in her dry hands and she sighed. "At times, yes, it was exciting. Other times, all I wanted to do was curl back in bed."

Cecilia settled into the visitor's chair, deciding it would only be polite to let Wanda have her drink before she started to make more of a fuss. ...well, and the conversation was nice. "I can't blame you. I'm not very big on excitement, myself. Maybe someday, I'll get to experience a little peace and quiet. I'm told it's lovely."

"Oh, it is. When you finally discover it, treasure it for all that it's worth." The conversation lagged for a few minutes as Wanda slowly finished off her drink. "I have to admit, the excitement I've been through does not measure up to all of this."

"From what little I've been told, it does sound like it would be a bit on the exhausting side," Cecilia admitted, propping her chin up in a hand. Let the work wait, Cece, it would wait, let it wait.. "Head feeling alright, and everything? No problems focusing your vision?" Aw, damn.

Wanda's eyes shifted to Cecilia and she broke into a smile. "I'm going to assume you are on the medical staff?" she asked, a light teasing in her tone. "But, no, no problems with my vision. I just keep wanting to close my eyes. And my head...I still feel like it's been swathed in cotton, to tell you the truth."

Cecilia had the grace to look sheepish, nodding and holding up a hand. "Guilty. Fourth year med student, and Doctor Bartlett's dutiful assistant. I'm still trying to find my off-switch, but no luck so far." She smiled sheepishly, and cast a thoughtful look towards the chart at the foot of the bed. "You're probably still purging the sedatives from your system, at a guess, as far as all that goes.. there weren't any notes mentioning anything to make me worry, anyway."

"That is a relief. I was rather out of it but I did overhear two women talking. American and a Scot, from the sounds of it. I think the American...this Dr. Bartlett, maybe...was going to come back in eventually." She laid back with a sigh and smiled. "And do not apologize. I'm Rom, we are all about hard work. And even harder play once the work is finished. And I've seen that drive in my colleagues eyes back in England, so I am very familiar with it."

"The American is Doctor Bartlett," Cecilia confirmed, the sheepishness leaving her smile. "And if you were planning on sticking around, the 'hard work' drive is very common, especially down here in the Batcave." She paused, and coughed. "The medlab, I mean. But it's more fun to call it the Batcave."

Wanda's eyebrows raised, becoming lost in the mop of curls that suddenly fell down. She cursed in Romanian. "It seems even my hair is against me this day."

"It wants you to stay in bed, obviously," Cecilia grinned, casting a quick look around as she shifted in her seat to pat at her pockets. Did she have a comb? Was there a comb in here? "Do you want me to go find you a brush or a rubber band so you can get it out of the way?"

A mournful look crossed her face. "I am afraid it's not behaving because of my powers," she explained. "And I do not wish to break all your hair ties or rubber bands."

"Your..? Oh." Cecilia blinked, mostly at herself, and gave her head a quick shake. "Forgot where I was for a second," she mused in an odd tone of voice, smiling wryly. "Haven't managed to do that before."

"I apologize if I spoke out of turn?" Wanda started. "I am so used to my powers side effects that I sometimes do not think about them."

Cecilia shook her head, holding up her hands sheepishly. "No, no, you didn't. I just managed to forget I was a mutant for five seconds. Never done that before. Got to mark my calendar or something."

A rich laugh escaped Wanda and she smiled. "Ah, yes. I have those moments more and more, I'm afraid. Especially when I was teaching. Everything seemed so normal."

"Ooh. What do you teach?" Cecilia tilted her head curiously, regaining her smile - she'd mark the calendar later. "Or, did, however the case may be?"

"Anthropology and sociology, mainly. And not full-time. I was a..." Wanda paused, searching for the words to describe it. "I'm the 'roving' teacher, so to speak. I work for Cambridge in England and when I was not doing the traveling anthropologist thing, I would pick up a few lectures here and there."

"Sounds like a nice gig," Cecilia smiled. "I'm not entirely sure what the people in charge here were on when they decided they could trust me with a couple of classes, but there is something fun about shaping the minds of impressionable youths."

She grinned. "There is a thrill in that, yes. It is also nice knowing that I have work in the cold, damp winter that is not outside. And to be given a chance to work at Cambridge...I was very lucky."

"I'd say something reassuring about the heat in this house, but I think most of it's built up from all the friction between the people in it," Cecilia said wryly, shooting a look towards the door.

"I am going to assume that means I did not fall into a Brady Bunchesque group?" Wanda asked, curious.

Cecilia shook her head, looking back to Wanda with a lopsided smile. "Hasn't been A Very Brady Fall since I got here, at least.. I'll let one of the more long-time residents let you know about all that, though. I'm lead to believe things have been particularly crazed lately, so I don't want to go and color your perceptions or anything." She paused, and added, "Granted, the one who brought me up to speed is a large, fuzzy blue man with a Twinkie addiction.. but really, he's one of the more grounded people here, if you can believe that."

"Blue...would that be Kurt Wagner or is there someone else who is blue in this mansion?" She shook her head. "I do not know how long I'm going to be here, to tell you the truth, and already it is seemingly incredibly interesting." She grinned. "For an anthropologist, at any rate."

"Hank McCoy," Cecilia grinned, her brow furrowing slightly in thought. She didn't recognize the other name.. eh, could worry about that another time. "It's interesting in several ways, yes.. biological and Chinese curse." She shrugged helplessly. "I just keep trying to convince myself it's just another school, but my last school was a lot different."

"Where mutants kept a low profile?" Wanda asked. "This school is famous...maybe infamous is the correct term...and I have seen it on the news a few times. I caught the tv special about this place."

"If there were others at NYU, I didn't know it," Cecilia nodded, propping her chin back up in her hand. "Though I'll readily admit I was more concerned with keeping my own profile low than I was making friends."

She sympathized. "It is hard, sometimes, walking that line. Only a few at Cambridge knew I was a mutant. And even less knew the rest." Of who her father was. She had made certain no one there would be able to trace her back to him.

"My first instinct's still to deny it, even here," Cecilia admitted. "It's taking some adjusting." That was putting it mildly. She nodded slowly at the last, tilting her head slightly in thought. "Assuming I'm guessing what the rest is correctly.. eh. Doesn't matter." She shrugged.

Wanda's face softened slightly. "Thank you. I am not sure what the reaction is going to be, honestly. It will probably help that I have never met the man and I am trying my hardest to avoid ever doing so."

"If anyone gives you hell, just tell them that," Cecilia suggested, smiling a touch. "And if they still give you hell, you let me know, and I'll threaten them with a tetanus shot until they find something better to do with their time."

She laughed again. "I will keep that in mind. I think your threat will scare them off more than what I have to say."

Cecilia smiled proudly. "I'm good that way. Anytime you need the backup, just give a shout."

"Trust me, I will."